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First Battle of Terra Nova
The First Battle of Terra Nova was a military conflict between United Federation of Colonies and Aradus Hive forces on November 5, 2308. The battle resulted in a major defeat of UFC forces, and the complete annihilation of Terra Nova and its citizens. The Battle became the first combat action of the Aradus Incursion, and was the precursor to the Second Battle of Terra Nova. Background The United Federation of Colonies and the Aradus Hives were in a state of high political tension, following the refusal of the UFC to share Wormhole Technology, fearing that the Aradus would use it to overwhelm the galaxy. The destruction of UFC forces and Terra Nova was followed by a justification and demand by Queen Scent of Conquest, in which they detailed that further colonies would be destroyed and a merciless war waged if the Aradus Were not given Jump Drive Schematics. Proceedings On November 5, 2308, UFCN tracking satellites in the Goldilocks System detected hundreds of large, unknown objects decelerating from a Kuiper-Belt originating trajectory towards the UFC colony of Terra Nova. Terra Nova's executive committee was immediately notified, before themselves notifying UFCN Naval Command. The Third Exploratory Fleet ("Sacagawea's Sisters") was placed on yellow-alert, alongside all planetary defenses. The Second Defensive Fleet ("Freedom Fighters") was placed in a state of readiness, with the flagship UFCN George Washington beginning preparations for an emergency jump from the Saratoga System to Terra Nova. Thirty-six minutes after the objects were detected, LiDAR and RaDAR systems identified the objects as vessels matching descriptions of Aradus Hive Vessels. One hour and seventeen minutes later, the ships began firing without warning at UFCN vessels. The ensuing battle would become both the first conflict of the Aradus Incursion, and an event of great loss for Humanity and the United Federation of Colonies. Aradus anti-matter weaponry quickly tore through the armour of a majority of the Third Fleet, and those that survived struggled to fend off the now overwhelming fleet power of the Aradus. Orbital and ground-based defenses struggled to pick up the slack, and UFCN High Command gave the order for the Second Defensive Fleet to be reinforced by the First Defensive Fleet ("Weber's Warriors") before jumping to the Goldilocks system. After almost half an hour of fleet combat, the Aradus moved the now infamous ship "Scent of Fear" from a higher, safer orbit, to a much lower equatorial one. Ground stations reported massive energy readings from the vessel (possibly measuring in the Zetawatts, according to some sources), before the Scent of Fear discharged its main weapon. The Scent of Fear accelerated large masses of Anti-Helium towards the planet's surface via Gaussian Acceleration in a continuous shot. This material quickly tore through Terra Nova's atmosphere, releasing massive amounts of energy, and shielding newer material as it made its way towards the surface. The material eventually tore through Terra Novas outer crust, and into the mantle, releasing devastating amounts of energy. The entire population of Terra Nova was killed in the process. Aftermath and Legacy Human survivors in the wake of the battle counted in the dozens, less than one percent of the systems original population, which sat at just under three-hundred million UFC citizens. Following the Second Battle of Terra Nova, in which The First and Second Defensive fleets defeated the Aradus fleet in orbit of Terra Nova, survivors (ranging from military personnel held up in small air-pockets of destroyed vessels, to civilians who escaped the planet in shuttles at the last minute, with nothing but the clothes on their back) were picked up by the UFCN, before being brought back to the Inner Colonies for refugee processing. The demands made by Queen Scent of Conquest were ultimately rejected by UFC Prime Minister Martinez Marsborn, who, in their famous "A Million Terra Novas" speech, declared that the UFC would not give in to tyranny, and that should the Aradus gain hold of Wormhole technology, they would "...expand like a plague on this galaxy, ensuring that there would be not just one, or two, but a million more Terra Novas." The UFC, in alliance with the T'Sollei Allied Stars ultimately defeated the Aradus Hives, forcing the nation out of the region now known as the Aradus DMZ, and claiming the territory for themselves.